Year of the Travel Foodie

Next year will be the year of the foodie where travel is concerned, according to Booking.com.

The travel e-commerce company has recently completed a study of 128 million reviews written by 19,000 travellers from 26 countries to uncover what people want when travelling in 2018.

The study showed that travel will be driven mainly by food, with the results stating 41 percent of travellers actively plan new food and drink into their next adventure, which is a significant increase from the 21 percent in 2017.

Local food is the largest pull with two thirds of travellers wanting locally sourced meals when they venture on vacation.

For a significant number of holiday-goers, cuisine is the deciding factor when choosing a location, most claiming to “choose a destination based on local restaurant reviews”.

A quarter of tourists will even steer clear of places that do not have an active food scene.

A third of sightseers were brutally honest in saying that they wanted to take mouth-watering photos of their food to post on social media to be the envy of their friends.

Nearly half of the globetrotters said they are more adventurous with what they choose to eat when travelling, while 54 percent want to experience more unique dining experiences while on holiday.

Ultimately, these jet-setters are all about experience, with half of the travellers looking to get local food in street markets while on holiday, preferring home grown ingredients and dishes loved by locals. To quench the mouth-watering travel bug, consider travelling to a destination known for its street food, such as Bangkok, Hanoi, Istanbul, or Taipei.

On the other end of the spectrum are the one in five travellers who wish to try a meal from Michelin star restaurants while on expedition, most likely found in a city known for fine dining, like Rome, Paris, Dubai, or London.